björk ： alarm call - björk ： alarm call

What this video is

Released in November 1998 as the fourth single from Björk's landmark album Homogenic (1997), 'Alarm Call' arrived during a period when Björk was redefining the music video as a high-art object by collaborating exclusively with visionary directors and designers. The decision to commission Alexander McQueen—then simultaneously serving as chief designer at Givenchy and at the height of his 'enfant terrible' notoriety…

Why it matters

A pivotal document of 1990s art pop's visual ambition, 'Alarm Call' demonstrates the era's hunger for music video as auteur cinema. Its pairing of electronic IDM-inflected pop with haute couture direction and wildlife surrealism prefigures the fashion-film genre and represents one of the few…

The director

Lee Alexander McQueen (17 March 1969 – 11 February 2010) was a British fashion designer and couturier. He founded his own Alexander McQueen label in 1992 and served as chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001. He earned four British Designer of the Year…